The Effect of Normal Force on the Coupled Temperature Field of Metal Impregnation Carbon/Stainless Steel under the Friction and Wear with Electric Current

AbstractTemperature field model for aluminum-stainless steel composite conductor rail (stainless steel)/collector shoe (metal impregnation carbon) under the coupling of contact resistor-friction thermal was established by FE software ANSYS. The temperature field distribution model of the friction pair was simulated and the maximum coupled temperature changing with different normal force was researched. The results show that the maximum coupled temperatures decrease firstly and then rise with the increasing of normal force under the constant displacement, current and relative sliding speed. There is an optimal normal force making the maximum coupled temperature to be the lowest for the friction pair of the metal impregnation carbon and stainless steel. The normal force can be used as the working normal force in order to reduce the abrasion induced by temperature rising

p97/VCP is highly expressed in the stem-like cells of breast cancer and controls cancer stemness partly through the unfolded protein response

p97/VCP, an evolutionarily concerned ATPase, partakes in multiple cellular proteostatic processes, including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated protein degradation (ERAD). Elevated expression of p97 is common in many cancers and is often associated with poor survival. Here we report that the levels of p97 positively correlated with the histological grade, tumor size, and lymph node metastasis in breast cancers. We further examined p97 expression in the stem-like cancer cells or cancer stem cells (CSCs), a cell population that purportedly underscores cancer initiation, therapeutic resistance, and recurrence. We found that p97 was consistently at a higher level in the CD4

Two Low-Complexity Efficient Beamformers for an IRS- and UAV-Aided Directional Modulation Network

As excellent tools for aiding communication, an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can extend the coverage area, remove the blind area, and achieve a dramatic rate improvement. In this paper, we improve the secrecy rate (SR) performance of directional modulation (DM) networks using an IRS and UAV in combination. To fully explore the benefits of the IRS and UAV, two efficient methods are proposed to enhance the SR performance. The first approach computes the confidential message (CM) beamforming vector by maximizing the SR, and the signal-to-leakage-noise ratio (SLNR) method is used to optimize the IRS phase shift matrix (PSM), which is called Max-SR-SLNR. To reduce the computational complexity, the CM, artificial noise (AN) beamforming, and IRS phase shift design are independently designed in the following method. The CM beamforming vector is constructed based on the maximum ratio transmission (MRT) criteria along the channel from Alice-to-IRS, the AN beamforming vector is designed by null-space projection (NSP) on the remaining two channels, and the PSM of the IRS is directly given by the phase alignment (PA) method. This method is called the MRT-NSP-PA. The simulation results show that the SR performance of the Max-SR-SLNR method outperforms the MRT-NSP-PA method in the cases of small-scale and medium-scale IRSs, and the latter approaches the former in performance as the IRS tends to a larger scale

Antibacterial activity and mechanism of sanguinarine against Staphylococcus aureus by interfering with the permeability of the cell wall and membrane and inducing bacterial ROS production

Staphylococcus aureus (SA) is representative of gram-positive bacteria. Sanguinarine chloride hydrate (SGCH) is the hydrochloride form of sanguinarine (SG), one of the main extracts of Macleaya cordata (M. cordata). There are few reports on its antibacterial mechanism against SA. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the in vitro antibacterial activity and mechanism of SGCH against SA. The inhibitory zone, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were measured, and the bactericidal activity curve was plotted. In addition, the micromorphology, alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity, Na+K+, Ca2+Mg2+-adenosine triphosphate (ATP) activity, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and fluorescein diacetate (FDA) were observed and detected. The results showed that the inhibitory zone of SGCH against SA was judged as medium-sensitive; the MIC and MBC were 128 and 256 μg/mL, respectively; in the bactericidal activity curve, SGCH with 8 × MIC could completely kill SA within 24 h. SGCH was able to interfere with the integrity and permeability of the SA cell wall and membrane, as confirmed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, the increase in extracellular AKP and Na+ K+, Ca2+ Mg2+-ATP activities as well as the fluorescein diacetate (FDA) staining experiment results. Moreover, a high concentration of SGCH could induce SA to produce large amounts of ROS. In summary, these findings revealed that SGCH has a preferable antibacterial effect on SA, providing an experimental and theoretical basis for using SG as an antibiotic substitute in animal husbandry and for the clinical control and treatment of diseases caused by SA

Case Report: A Synonymous Mutation in NF1 Located at the Non-canonical Splicing Site Leading to Exon 45 Skipping

Synonymous mutations are generally considered non-pathogenic because it did not alter the amino acids of the encoded protein. Publications of the associations between synonymous mutations and abnormal splicing have increased recently, however, not much observations available described the synonymous mutations at the non-canonical splicing sites leading to abnormal splicing. In this pedigree, the proband was diagnosed Neurofibromatosis type I due to the presence of typical cafe’ au lait macules and pectus carinatum. Whole-exome sequencing identified a synonymous mutation c.6795C > T (p.N2265N) of the NF1 gene which was located at the non-canonical splicing sites. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction followed by Sanger sequencing was carried out, and the skipping of exon 45 was observed. Therefore, the pathogenicity of the synonymous mutation c.6795C > T was confirmed. Our finding expanded the spectrum of pathogenic mutations in Neurofibromatosis type I and provided information for genetic counseling

Modeling of ionizing radiation-induced chromosome aberration and tumor prevalence based on two classes of DNA double-strand breaks clustering in chromatin domains

There has been some controversy over the use of radiobiological models when modeling the dose-response curves of ionizing radiation (IR)-induced chromosome aberration and tumor prevalence, as those curves usually show obvious non-targeted effects (NTEs) at low doses of high linear energy transfer (LET) radiation. The lack of understanding the contribution of NTEs to IR-induced carcinogenesis can lead to distinct deviations of relative biological effectiveness (RBE) estimations of carcinogenic potential, which are widely used in radiation risk assessment and radiation protection. In this work, based on the initial pattern of two classes of IR-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) clustering in chromatin domains and the subsequent incorrect repair processes, we proposed a novel radiobiological model to describe the dose-response curves of two carcinogenic-related endpoints within the same theoretical framework. The representative experimental data was used to verify the consistency and validity of the present model. The fitting results indicated that, compared with targeted effect (TE) and NTE models, the current model has better fitting ability when dealing with the experimental data of chromosome aberration and tumor prevalence induced by multiple types of IR with different LETs. Notably, the present model without introducing an NTE term was adequate to describe the dose-response curves of IR-induced chromosome aberration and tumor prevalence with NTEs in low-dose regions. Based on the fitting parameters, the LET-dependent RBE values were calculated for three given low doses. Our results showed that the RBE values predicted by the current model gradually decrease with the increase of doses for the endpoints of chromosome aberration and tumor prevalence. In addition, the calculated RBE was also compared with those evaluated from other models. These analyses show that the proposed model can be used as an alternative tool to well describe dose-response curves of multiple carcinogenic-related endpoints and effectively estimate RBE in low-dose regions

Go Real: Power Electronics From Simulations to Experiments in Hours: Versatile Experimental Tool for Next Generation Engineers

The only constant is change-power systems worldwide are going through a paradigm change from centralized generation to distributed generation; transportation systems are being electrified; and billions of lives in third-world countries are awaiting low-cost sustainable electricity. Control and power electronic technologies are two common enablers to address these grand challenges. Empowering next-generation engineers with hands-on skills in control and power electronics has become a priority for global higher education. However, setting up a suitable experimental system requires time, effort, and a broad range of expertise. This article aims to help researchers, university professors, graduate students, and engineers lower the barriers to go real from simulations to experiments for various power electronic systems and improve the efficiency and productivity of research, development, and education. It shows that it is possible to obtain experimental results within hours after completing simulations by adopting the SYNDEM Smart Grid Research and Educational Kit, which is a reconfigurable, opensource, multifunctional power electronic converter with the capability of directly downloading codes from MATLAB/Simulink. This minimizes the time, cost, and efforts needed to develop hardware systems and removes the burden of coding. After briefly introducing the SYNDEM kit and highlighting the automatic code generation capability, two case studies will be illustrated: an ac motor drive and a dc-dc-ac converter for an integrated PV-storage system

Smart Grid Research and Educational Kit to Enable the Control of Power Electronic-based Systems from Simulations to Experiments in Hours

Control and power electronics are two major enablers for the paradigm shift of power systems from centralized generation to distributed generation, the electrification of transportation, and the transformation of billions of lives in third-world countries. Experimental validations of control algorithms for these systems play a vital role. However, setting up a suitable experimental system requires time, effort, and a broad range of expertise. This demonstration session aims to help researchers, graduate students, and engineers remove the barriers to go real from simulations to experiments for various power electronic-based systems. It shows that it is possible to obtain experimental results within hours after completing simulations by adopting the SYNDEM Smart Grid Research and Educational Kit, which is a reconfigurable, open-source, multifunctional power electronic converter with the capability of directly downloading codes from Matlab/Simulink. This will maximize the strengths of the control community in developing control algorithms, minimize the efforts on developing hardware systems and programming control algorithms, and improve the efficiency and productivity of research and learning

Enhanced-rate Iterative Beamformers for Active IRS-assisted Wireless Communications

Compared to passive intelligent reflecting surface (IRS), active IRS is viewed as a more efficient promising technique to combat the double-fading impact in IRS-aided wireless network. In this paper, in order to boost the achievable rate of user in such a wireless network, three enhanced-rate iterative beamforming methods are proposed by designing the amplifying factors and the corresponding phases at active IRS. The first method, maximizing the simplified signal-to-noise ratio (Max-SSNR) is designed by omitting the cross-term in the definition of rate. Using the Rayleigh-Ritz (RR) theorem, Max-SSNR-RR is proposed to iteratively optimize the norm of beamforming vector and its associated normalized vector. In addition, generalized maximum ratio reflection (GMRR) is presented with a closed-form expression, which is motivated by the maximum ratio combining. To further improve rate, maximizing SNR (Max-SNR) is designed by fractional programming (FP), which is called Max-SNR-FP. Simulation results show that the proposed three methods make an obvious rate enhancement over Max-reflecting signal-to-noise ratio (Max-RSNR), maximum ratio reflection (MRR), selective ratio reflecting (SRR), equal gain reflection (EGR) and passive IRS, and are in increasing order of rate performance as follows: Max-SSNR-RR, GMRR, and Max-SNR-FP